The Top Vein Doctor in Bergen County Presents “A Patients’ Guide to Chronic Venous Sufficiency”

If you’ve been diagnosed as having varicose veins, chances are you’ve heard the term “CVI,” which is an acronym for chronic venous insufficiency. Varicose vein removal experts in New Jersey have probably told you that CVI is the most common cause of varicose veins, but what else do you know about it, and the threat that it poses to your overall health?

In a nutshell, CVI is a disease condition that prevents your veins from pumping blood back to your heart and lungs

The health of your veins depend on a series of tiny, one-way valves that open to allow deoxygenated blood to pass through them on its way back to the heart and lungs for renewal. In a healthy person, these valves open to allow the blood to flow “upwards” to the heart and then immediately close again. CVI makes these valves “weak” or defective, such that they don’t close properly, and allow blood to flow “downwards” back into the veins and pool in them.

When CVI allows blood to flow in a reflux (backwards) direction, it causes the affected veins to swell and become discolored as they take on the bluish-purple color of deoxygenated blood. If these swollen veins are close to the surface of your skin, they become visible, and are called varicose. In some cases, however, CVI doesn’t immediately cause visible varicose veins, and instead causes symptoms such as edema (swelling caused by a buildup of fluids), changes in skin texture and color (caused by poor circulation), and ulceration (infected cuts or scratches that won’t heal and turn into bleeding sores).

Can CVI be cured?

The answer to this question depends on what you mean by “cured.” Once CVI has damaged the venous valves, neither medication nor surgery can “fix” them and make them work properly again. However, New Jersey vein experts can eliminate diseased veins by closing the veins themselves, using minimally-invasive procedures such as sclerotherapy or endovenous laser therapy (EVLT). These treatments close the damaged veins permanently, causing them to collapse and be absorbed into surrounding tissue while healthier veins take over pumping blood back to the heart. The result is both the elimination of CVI and the varicose veins it created.

Am I at risk of developing CVI?

The most important risk factors for CVI are age (being over 50), gender (women get CVI more often than men, for hormonal reasons), and heredity (if one or more of your parents had vein disease, you’re more at risk). Risk factors that you can control and reduce include smoking cigarettes, being overweight, and inactivity (not getting enough exercise, especially sitting too much).

Because not every case of CVI displays visible symptoms, the best way to find out whether you have chronic venous insufficiency (and if not, how at risk you are) is to contact our vein treatment center in New Jersey to schedule a venous health screening. These screenings are fast, painless, and non-invasive, so in less than an hour you can know the exact state of your vein health. So call today at 201-693-4847 and set up an appointment for your own screening. You’ll be glad you did.